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Cheaters never prosper, the old saying goes, but the growth in counterfeit goods might suggest otherwise. Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods has grown from $250 billion annually in 2008 to $461 billion in 2013, according to a new report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an international organization that promotes economic development. Fake goods make up more than 2.5 percent of all world trade.

Two times a year, we publish a report of our work and activities for a just-ended 6-month period. This Semiannual Report to Congress (SARC) is required by law, but it’s also a chance for us to share our record of work with our many stakeholders. The work reflects our mission to help maintain confidence in the postal system and improve the Postal Service’s bottom line through independent audits, investigations, and research.

With many lengthy disputes that are eventually settled, differences between parties sometimes linger. That seems to be the case with the 40-year-old dispute between Postal Service management and labor over the number of hours a postmaster or supervisor can spend performing work typically reserved for bargaining unit employees. In late 2014, the Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union reached a settlement in the 1970s case that capped that number at 15 per week.

It’s not just baseball diplomacy that is happening between the United States and Cuba. U.S. mail is now flowing directly to the island nation – another major step in the process of normalizing relations between the two countries.

In March, the U.S. Postal Service reestablished direct transport of mail to Cuba – the first time in more than 50 years that U.S. citizens are able to send mail directly to the country. Previously, dispatches from the United States to Cuba had to transit through Mexico or Panama and faced major delays because of limited lift in and out of Havana

It’s easy to understand the underlying motivation behind the U.S. Postal Service’s digital strategy: use data to make mail a much more powerful marketing and communications tool. Hard copy and digital working together to make each other better. So what if the Postal Service is a little late to the party. At least it has showed up, which, as Woody Allen reminded us, is 80 percent of life.

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Thank you for your comments on our 2010 blog. Though we have closed the comment section on this page, the Office of Inspector General is continuously conducting staffing reviews of the Postal Service...

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